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Wrong fonts

U

UnitedRed

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 30, 2006
89
0
I searched some other posts on here but was wondering whether there was a quicker way to get round this than having to install all my fonts again.

The problem is like this..


Today I put all my fonts from my PC onto my mac, now after reading some of the replies I know its because of duplicates. I've deleted what I can see are extra ones.
All together there are now 797 fonts, and I don't really want to have to go through each font one by one deleting them and installing them on again.

One thing I did do when installing the fonts was instead of dragging them all into the fonts folder as single files I just draged over the folder with them all in. Was this the wrong way to go about it?

One more thing, when using Photoshop I noticed half my fonts were missing, is there a limit to how many you can have on?

hopefully someone can help. Thanks!
 
If you moved a folder called Fonts to where there was another one called Fonts, chances you are replaced the 'old' Fonts one with the new one.

OS X asks you if you want to replace the folder. It's not like XP where it merges the contents.

This might explain your missing fonts since it's now only see your old PC ones
 
UnitedRed said:
I've deleted what I can see are extra ones.
Click to expand...
What do you mean you deleted the extra ones? Did you use Font Book to install the fonts? Did you (then) use Font Book to resolve duplicates and also validate your fonts? If you deleted some of the (original) system fonts, that is one of the things that can happen. I've seen that exact problem once before and then it was problems with an Helvetica font that was the culprit...
 
in the folder I dragged over, where I seen a name that matches the ones in the original folder I deleted, they are still in the trash so nothing is lost yet

oh and no I didn't use fontbook to install them, I just thought you drag and drop them in
 
in fontbook i've just highlighted all the fonts and went to File > Validate Fonts.

In the results there seems to be many red cross ones. Should I tell it to remove them?
 
I removed the duplicates and validating them in font book
does anyone know how to get things back to normal?
 
Hmm... if validating and resolving duplicates didn't help, and you still got all essential fonts where they should be, then you can try to Disable some of the newly installed fonts (I would specially look for some Indic script looking fonts possibly with a name starting with H).

If none of that helps then (back up your data, just in case, and) do an Archive and Install.
 
is Google, Ebay etc used with Helvetica?
if I delete those ones where could I download them again?
 
how do I do an Archive and Install?
what is it

if I zip all my fonts installed up and send you a copy of them could you have a look at them for me, see if theres anything there that shouldn't be there?
 
Apple Support said:
Mac OS X 10.4: About installation options

When you're ready to install Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, you may notice that you have several installation options available to you while started from the Tiger Install disc. If you prefer not to custom install Tiger, simply install the software using the default installation.

If you'd like to see your choices, click the Options button that appears when choosing an installation destination. A dialog sheet appears and presents you with several installation choices, listed below. Here's what each type of installation provides.

[...]

Archive and Install

This type of installation moves existing System files to a folder name Previous System, then installs a new copy of Mac OS X. You cannot start up your computer using the Previous System folder.

Archive and Install installations require the greatest amount of available disk space because you need to have room for your existing System and the new one you are installing. This is a good choice if you've already backed up your important files and are trying to resolve an existing issue.

Important: This option leaves non-Apple-installed (third-party) items intact, though they may be moved, depending on their location. Usually it's best to reinstall third-party software after an Archive and Install installation to ensure they work correctly.

The Preserve Users and Network Settings option (selected by default) imports existing user accounts, their Home folders, and your network settings into the new system after installation. If you deselect this, you should have a current back up your important data, network settings, and user Home folders available. The Mac OS X Setup Assistant will not appear after this kind of installation.

You might wonder, "What do I do with the Previous System folder?" It may contain items that you need. To determine this, once you've finished configuring, installing, and updating your applications, compare the Previous System to the new System. If there are things in the Previous System folder that aren't in the new System folder, just copy them over. If you're not sure what some items are (and don't seem to need them), leave them in the Previous System folder. Once you're comfortable that you've got everything you need out of it, you can delete the Previous System folder (or leave it around if you're not low on disk space).

[...]
Click to expand...

Source
 
is there not an easier way than having to install everything again?
I have too much stuff to back up all in one go
 
No, not really... of course you could try to reinstall just the fonts to their original places (using something like Pacifist to get them off the OS X dvd), but I would say an Archive and Install is your easiest option.

An A&I will not touch your data (or most of your Apps) but just make a brand new system for you (and even archive the old one just in case) - as described in the post above. You do not "have to install everything again", that's the whole point. You should be able to do that in well under an hour and be up and running again, and since it doesn't touch your home folder you should be safe.

However, I would strongly urge you to make backup of all the data you cannot afford to lose. This is a general advice, and you should have proper backup at any given time, and especially before a large system modification...
 
if it doesn't touch my home folder then the fonts will stay as they are won't they?
they are in Home>Library>Fonts

for backing up data what folders would I need to back up for this archive and install?
Pictures, Documents, Music, Movies, applications? folders on my desktop?
 
Which font folder did you install your fonts into?
There are three or more places that fonts can be installed (and Adobe has their own place for their fonts too). OS X really made font installation very confusing.

The first folder that you should never touch is in System/Library/Fonts. If you have messed with this folder then you could have many problems, up to having your computer bomb on boot. This is where Apple puts the fonts that come with your computer many of which need to be there for programs and the system to run.

If you want fonts to be able to be used by every user on the computer, put them into Library/Fonts

If you want fonts to be used by only your user, put them into the Library/Fonts folder in your user folder.

If you have classic on your computer there may also be fonts in your System Folder/Fonts folder. Don't put any OS X fonts in there.

It sounds like you may have put your stuff into System/Library/Fonts. If this is the case. Take all the fonts you put in there out and move them into the Library Fonts folder, then put all the OS X fonts back.
These are the fonts in System/Library that absolutely must always be there for things to run properly: AppleLiGothic Medium, AppleGothic, AquaKana Bold, AquaKana Regular, Geeza Pro Bold, Geeza Pro, Geneva, Hei, Keyboard, Last Resort, LucidaGrande, Monaco and a number of Japanese fonts. There are othere that are required for certain apps as well.
 
If you have just been adding fonts to your home folder than your computer is probably fine. The only fonts that will interfere with Application and System performance are in the System or Library folders. Microsoft Office installs a bunch of fonts into the user folder, but none of these are necessary (except maybe Times New Roman).
The first thing to make sure of is thatyour fonts are loose in the User/Library/Fonts folder. If they are in subfolders, move them so they are loose. Then I would recommend you download and run FontFinagler. http://homepage.mac.com/mdouma46/fontfinagler/
It will delete all the font caches which can sometimes get corrupted. I believe this will reboot your computer. If it doesn't then reboot and hopefully all should be well.
 
no I never touched System.
I went from Home>Library>Fonts

I'll download that program you mentioned and give that a try
 
tried the fontfinagler and now google has a different font again, but still not the correct one. This one is just readable

looks like i'm going to have to do that install thing, but I just need to know what things i'd have to back up that I mentioned above

thanks for the help so far guys
 
Before you go and reinstall, check the fonts you put in your home folder and make sure that there is no version of Helvetica or Arial. If there are, delete them. There are versions of these in your System Fonts. This may also be the problem.
 
in the home folder there are:
HelveLTMM
Helvetica LT MM
Helvetica.dfont
Arial
Arial 10-23-34
Arial Black
Arial Black 10-23-34
Arial Narrow
Arial Narrow 10-23-34
Arial Rounded Bold
Arial Rounded Bold 10-23-34
arial.ttf
arialbd.ttf
arialbi.ttf
ArialHB.ttf
ArialHBBold.ttf
ariali.ttf
ARIALN.TTF
ARIALNB.TTF
ARIALNBI.TTF
ARIALNI.TTF
ariblk.ttf

delete all them?

Edit:
Just had a look in the System fonts and Arial isn't there
it goes from AquaKanaRegular.otf to Courier.dfont
 
Oh yeah. That looks like the problem there. You've got tons of duplicate fonts there.

First double-check to make sure that there is a Helvetica and an Arial in System/Library/Fonts or Library/Fonts. Chances are there is a Helvetica.dfont in System/Library/Fonts and Arial should be in there too. If they aren't there then you may have somehow altered the fonts in your System inadvertantly.

If there are versions in your System or Library fonts, then take all those fonts you listed in your home folder, move them out of the fonts folder into a folder on your desktop. Then reboot and see if that works.

Edit: If Helvetica's there, but not Arial. Try just getting the Helveticas out of there and reboot and see if that works.
 
in System the Helvetica.dfont is there
Library>Fonts it is empty

so next I delete the Helveticas from Home right?
 
UnitedRed said:
in System the Helvetica.dfont is there
Library>Fonts it is empty
so next I delete the Helveticas from Home right?
Click to expand...
Yes. Try that and reboot.

Edit: If that doesn't work it is probably those Arial fonts. What concerns me is that there is nothing in your Library/Fonts folder. There should be a whole bunch of OS X fonts in there. It is possible that you deleted them in FontBook (if you pushed the delete key instead disabling them when you were checking about duplicates). The fonts in there aren't required byt the system, but apps like Terminal and Firefox and others need them. Here is an apple article listing the fonts that should be installed in 10.4 http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301332.
If the fonts listed under Library fonts are in your trash, then move them back into Library Fonts. Then get the Arial variations out of your Home folder. Reboot and see if that works.

If that doesn't work then your best bet is to do an archive and install then add your fonts back using FontBook, which is the best way to add fonts.
 
I had put all the fonts I wasn't using in a folder on my desktop, i've now put all the ones that were meant to be in the library back in. Deleted both Helvetica and Arial from Home, opened fontbook and validated them all, then resolved duplicates but firefox has gone back to all messed up again
 
I tried the fonts in Photoshop and Word, Photoshop it worked fine but this is what I got in Word

picture1qz7.png


so Arial is the problem and that is the font being used for Google etc

is there not a way where I can just download the proper arial and replace all the wrong ones with the right ones?
 
Internal font numbering

Hi
All fonts generated for a system have a specific, "Unique" registration number. But they are sadly not always unique, and some independently made free fonts are made over the files of an existing font. I think this is why your Word list shows the strange Arial preview that you've posted. The hidden or family name is from the font the person opened to copy paste their own home made font into. When they generated the font and saved it as something else, the hidden name (or menu name) stayed Arial. See, some programs read the font name from its title, others refer to its internal name.

As far as I can see the best thing to do is move all your newly added fonts to another folder somewhere else. Check that your system is running normally. Once you are satisfied that everything is as it should be, label your native fonts, so you don't get confused which are the original fonts. Usually it's pretty safe to empty all fonts from your User Library, the system doesn't put any there. Then add them one by one to your User library using Font Book, and see if everything is all right. Especially if you brought fonts in from Windows, you just have to be very careful not to add them without another program (such as Fontbook or Suitcase) checking for problems. And OSX does have slow up problems if you have too many fonts in your system, thats why most graphic designers tend to use another font management app to lighten the load on the startup ( I use Extensis Suitcase). That way unless you need to use a specific font in a program, most of your fonts are inactive and not putting a burden on the system. Suitcase has plugins for many programs that tell it to load a font set for use when that program is running.

If all this fails, then I have to agree with every one else, it's time for a system reinstall.

I hope this helps.
 
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